The earliest history of the Tamil' country is still involved in obscurity. From evi dence afforded by the language, Dr. Caldwell has drawn a sketch which would tend to show that the un-Aryanized Tamillans had "kings," who dwelt in " fortified houses," and ruled over small "districts of country;" that they had "minstrels," who recited songs at festivals; but that they were without "hereditary priests," without idols," and ideas of "heaven, bell, soul, or sin;" yet that they acknowledged the existence of God, whom they styled kti, or king, and erected to his honor a temple which they called ko-a, or God's house. Their chief worship, however, seems to have consisted in bloody sacri fices which they offered to "the devil." Dr. Caldwell further shows that they were acquainted with the ordinary metals, except tin and zinc, and with the planets known to the ancients, except Mercury and Saturn; that they had medicines, hamlets, towns, ships, and practiced the necessary arts of life, such as cottou-weaving and dyeing, though none of the arts of the higher class, as painting, sculpture, etc. ; that they knew no astronomy, and were ignorant of philosophy and grammar. The earliest civilization of the Tamil'. ians is traditionally attributed to the influence of successive colonies of Brahmans from upper India; and the leader of the first colony is said to have been the Rishi (q.v.) or saint Agastya, a personage who plays an important part iu Bralimanical legends. He is called the first king of the Pandiya kingdom, which was situated near the southern extremity of the peninsula; and by the majority of orthodox Hindus he is believed to be still alive, though invisible to ordinary eyes. His era is supposed to belong to the 6th c. B.c. ; though, like all other ancient Hindu dates, this date, too, cannot be fixed with any degree of certainty. Whether the Vedic worship (see VEDA) was ever known in the Tamil' country may be matter of doubt; the worship introduced by the Brahmans seems, on the contrary, to have been that based on the incarnations of Vishn'u (q.v.) and S'iva. (q.v.), and therefore to belong to an advanced stage of Hinduism. Vaishu'avas, S'aivas,
and S'aktas (see INDIA) are the now prevalent sects of the Tamil' country; for the Jainas (q.v.), who flourished in the Pandiya kingdom, probably from the 8th or 9th c. to the 12th or 13th after Christ, were finally expelled from it; and only a few adherents of this sect may now be met with there.
The oldest Tamil works are, however, those written, or claimed to have been writ ten, by the Jainas; and it is a remarkable fact that at any period of Tamil' literature few Brahmans have contributed anything to it that may be deemed worthy of preserva tion. The finest composition which Tamil' possesses is the KuRal' of TiruvalTuvar, " a work consisting of 1330 distichs or poetical aphorisms, on almost every subject connected with morals and political economy." Dr. Caldwell holds that it is not later than the 9th c. after Christ. A commentary on this work by Parimelar'agar is the most classical pro duction which has been written in Tamil' by a Brahman. Besides the KuRal', the fol lowing works are said to have received the sanction of the Madura college, which, according to tradition, founded by Veins's. S'ekhara for the cultivation of the language and literature, was then probably the most celebrated seat of learning in all Hindustan. Their names are: Naladiyar, Nanmanikkadikai, Iniyavai Narppatu, Inna Narppatu, Kar Narppatu, Kallavali Narppatu, lokai, Tirikadukam, Asara Korai, Pala Siru Pansa Mulam, Mutu lltoli Kanji, and Elati. For a list of other and later works written in Tamil', both mediaeval and modern, embracing the topics of religion— Protestant theology, Roman Catholic theology, Hinduism, and books published by Mohammedans—jurisprudence, philosophy, science, arts, literature, philology, geog raphy and history, periodicals and newspapers, see the very useful Classified Catalogue of Tamil' printed Books, with Introductory Notices, compiled by John Murdoch (Madras, 1865); and for learned purposes, the invaluable Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, by rev. R. Caldwell (Loud. 1856).